Thunderstorm SasuNaru
by Animegoddess7878
Summary: Naruto loves storms, but he can't seem to describe them. He wants a single word, and he asks his friends for help. However, none of them seem to be perfect. Now he turns to Sasuke, who has been avoiding him since the war ended! What's the reason? Will Naruto face the boy he loves for his word? SasuNaru/NaruSasu yaoi but not too much
1. What's My Word?

Beautiful. No, that did it no justice. Magical? No, it's still not the right word. Enchanting. Nope, still not it. I know I'm not the sharpest pencil in the case, but I didn't think that this would be so hard to describe! It's not often that we get a thunderstorm in Konoha, so I don't really know what the hell to describe it as. I wouldn't say it's a rarity because we do have our rainy days, but it's also not common for the lightning to flash so brightly or the thunder to roar so loud and strong. Let me back up for a second, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I am currently 17 years old. I am the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox demon, or known to me as Kurama. The Fourth Great Shinobi War has ended, Madara defeated, Sasuke-teme returned, and the infinite Tsukuyomi dispelled. Everything kind of went back to the way it was before, except for the fact that we now have an alliance with every other nation in the shinobi world. However, these facts are a bit irrelevant at the moment because for the last hour, I've been trying and failing to come up with a single word to describe a freaking thunderstorm! Here I was, perfectly comfortable in my brand-new house that the villagers made for me, raking my brain for a single word of all things. A freaking word! I sunk down into my couch that sat below the wide, display-case like windows and resumed watching the beginnings of a potentially humongous thunderstorm.

Days like these always take me back to when I was still little and alone in that tiny apartment of mine, curled up by the window in a blanket and staring out into the darkness of the world. Back then I really couldn't appreciate what exactly I was seeing and never really understood what happened. I never had parents or, at the time, parental or familial figures in my life to explain it to me. I never really counted the Third Hokage due to the fact that he was always working and also had a family of his own to attend to. Even as a child I knew what not to involve myself in and another persons' family was one of them. I wasn't near as acknowledged back then as I am now, and I wish I could go back in time to hug the little five-year-old me and tell him that life really does get better. However, the feeling I felt back then and the feeling I feel right now I can tell are the same thing. As I gaze out the window of my living room into the blackness the clouds are bringing to the sky, I can honestly say that I was never able to put a word to the feeling then or even now. Hence the reason I am thinking about a freaking word. What bothers me a bit more is the fact that I've been thinking on this for so long.

Maybe I should go ask a few of my friends. Sakura isn't on a mission and neither are Sai or Sasuke. Maybe they'll know what word to use! Though I'm kind of reluctant to ask Sasuke for anything right now; he and I have been on pins and needles for the last couple of months since he came back home. It makes me feel a bit uneasy whenever I think about it, but there isn't really much I can do at the moment that I haven't already tried. The only thing I haven't done is confess to the guy that I love him and let me tell you something, unless I know one hundred percent that he shares those feeling towards me, I'll take that information to my grave. I worked way too hard to bring him back to this village to keep him as a friend - no way am I going to risk him leaving again because he's simply to disgusted to look at me. That doesn't stop me from wanting to spend time with him, don't get me wrong, but when he just turns around and walks away without saying a word or even one of his signature 'hn's it makes me sort of sick. I keep telling myself that he'll come around if I just talk/fight it out with him, but he keeps avoiding me as though I were diseased. It's not like I'm mad at him for everything he's done in that past few years; water under the bridge in my opinion. You can't step in the same river twice and that's what Sasuke seems like to me. He's always changing and you never really know what kind of mood he's in until you've dipped your toes in the water that is Sasuke Uchiha. Then again it may just be that I'm the only one to see him like that because everyone else sees him as Mr. Dark and Scary. Maybe I was just privileged and he actually let me in to his dark and lonely world.

However much I hope for that to be the case, I think I know the truth. Sasuke just tolerated me because I was his rival and he needed to get stronger. Through exchanging blows, I got to know and understand him on a level no one else could even pray to comprehend. I also know for a fact that he got to understand me on that level as well because of some of the subtle things he did for me when we were still kids. He would spar with me when I was having a bad day in order to let me vent off steam. He would walk the same path home with me after a mission just to give me the feeling that I wasn't alone anymore. He pushed me and inspired me to train harder than I ever had in order to be more like him and an overall better shinobi. Whether or not he did those things consciously or subconsciously was, and remains, a mystery to me, but I am grateful for all of them and will be until the day I die. Sadly, I know that those days are over and the hope that I may have new ones like those is dwindling. I can't say that I've given up on the idea that Sasuke and I could be at least friends again, it's just that at the rate things are going now, I may die before he acknowledges me again.

Shaking off the rather depressing thoughts of Sasuke and saving his opinion of a good word as a last resort, I grabbed an umbrella that I really didn't remember purchasing (seeing as I always loved to play in the rain ever since I was little) and walked out the door. The light shower was going to turn into a torrential downpour soon; I could smell it in the air. The atmosphere was heavy and thick with heat that it kind of made it hard to breathe for a bit. That's what a summer storm will bring for you; lots of humidity and stickiness. I opened up the orange umbrella once I was outside of my doorway and off my front porch (I think Iruka-sensei must have gotten it for me, he's always paranoid I'll get sick) and walked out into the scarcely populated streets. Seeing as the rain made being outside a little uncomfortable, I could understand why people wouldn't want to be out here. They just didn't know how to have fun in the stuff.


	2. Mystifying

**Hello everyone! Welcome to the second chapter of Thunderstorm! Now I will warn you, there is shonen-ai in this story but it won't be coming up for another couple of chapters, so please bear with me. I am also not a huge fan of Sakura but because of the plot, I needed to be nice to her. If you're expecting any of my other stories to be nice to her...you're not going to like me.**

**WARNING THIS IS SASUNARU!**

My first stop was Sakura's house. It was a little ways away from where my house was located but it wasn't that bad of a walk. Plus it gave me ample opportunities to jump in puddles collecting more and more rainwater. I soon came upon her front door and knocked three times and waited. I didn't have to wait for long because her mother answered the door almost right away and I have to say it sort of surprised me. I didn't want to think she saw me coming and was waiting for me behind the door that was just creepy.

"Hello Naruto, how are you today? Oh come inside, dear, we don't want you to catch a cold in this weather."

"Thank you Mrs. Haruno, please excuse me for the intrusion," hey, my manners have improved so sue me! Mrs. Haruno took my umbrella, shook the water off of it and set it in the corner of the front room by the door. I quickly took my shoes off and set them close to it and followed Sakura's mom into their living room.

"Would you like some tea, Naruto? I'll call Sakura while you're waiting."

"No, thank you ma'am, I just came to ask your daughter a question is all."

"Oh my, well let me go get her."

She walked upstairs and I couldn't help but feel a bit awkward about this whole situation. I mean if I didn't know better, I would say that Sakura's mom was thinking I was going to ask her out or something. It's not like Sakura hasn't complained to her mom about how I used to ask her out in the past, but ever since I saved the village from Pein, Sakura has told me that her mother had been harping on her for not giving me a chance to prove that I was worthwhile when we were younger. She told me that her mom said that if she had dated me earlier in life then she would have been the significant other of the hero of the village. It had happened a lot, actually, and not just with Sakura. Ever since I saved the village from the Pein attack, my 'dateable' status skyrocketed and just escalated whenever the war ended and Sasuke came home. Not that I wasn't grateful for the attention that I had so craved for as a child, but mothers pulling me aside while walking down the street to ask if I would date their daughters was really creepy. Now I understand why Sasuke avoided going out into really crowded areas of the village in daylight when we were younger. It makes me curious to see what it would be like if I told everybody in the village that I was gay. Curious to see how the girls would react and curious to see if any guys would hit on me. Also curious to see what Sasuke would think but that's another topic altogether.

"Naruto, I'm so happy to see you! My mom told me you were here and that you wanted to ask me something. What can I do for you?"

"Hi Sakura, I'm happy to see you too. I wanted to ask you if you could help me find a word to describe a thunderstorm."

"A thunderstorm? I don't really know what to describe it as. I'd have to say mystifying."

"Mystifying, huh? That's not too bad but why that word?"

"Well, when the lightning flashes you get to see bolts of twisted white electricity. You sort of can't help but be amazed by it but you also have to be cautious of it because it's a deadly natural phenomenon. The look of it just catches your attention and although it only lasts for a few seconds you can't help but keep the image in your head. Does that clear anything up for you?"

"It sort of does, but at the same time I don't think that it's the right word. I understand where you're coming from, but for me it just doesn't do it justice. I mean if we want to talk about lightning being a natural phenomenon and only lasting a few seconds, isn't it less special that people can copy it with chakra like the Chidori or other lightning based jutsu?"

"Well…I guess you have a point there. I really don't know what word to use, but when it happens naturally you have to admit, it gets your attention."

"I know what you mean. Well, thank you for giving me your answer and I hope I haven't taken too much of your time."

"Don't be silly, Naruto, you don't take up anybody's time. You know, you're welcome to stay a bit longer if you want."

"No thank you, I've still got to ask a few more people about this before I'm driven insane. See you later, Sakura!"

I was unusually quick to leave her house, but who could blame me when you could feel the stares from both of her parents just around the corner of the doorway? I put my shoes on, grabbed my umbrella again, waved goodbye to Sakura and headed on my way. Just as I closed her door and looked up, a bolt of gorgeous lightning cracked through the dark gray almost black clouds and bathed everything in a white glow for a split second. I counted down to what was going to happen next. Twenty seconds passed and the roaring thunder billowed throughout the village and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. The rain was still falling at pretty much the same pace it was when I arrived at Sakura's place but I know that the storm had yet to yield its most exciting feature.


	3. OminousWonderous

**In this chapter we have a bit of OOCness from Sai. Though I like the words and explanations I came up with for his words - I think they suit him. I try to keep most of the people in character, but they're so fun to mess around with.**

**WARNING SASUNARU!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine, I claim no ownership for the characters used in this story. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. The only thing I really own is the plot. READ ON MY LOVLIES!**

Next stop was Sai's place. I'd only ever been there a few times to drop him off from particularly bad missions or from the hospital whenever he was released but I have a pretty good memory of where to go. I came upon the tiny two-bedroom apartment after a good ten minutes of splashing in puddles and laughing like the idiot everybody thinks I am and composed myself as best I could before knocking on his door. I waited for about five minutes until he finally opened up and he looked surprised to see me.

"Naruto, I wasn't expecting you here. Were we called to a mission?"

"Nope, I just thought I'd drop by for a bit. I wanted to ask you something, if you wouldn't mind."

"Oh no, please come in. You'll have to excuse the mess; I don't usually have people over."

"Please pardon the intrusion." Again, I took off my shoes and set my umbrella down while Sai rushed off to do whatever he usually did. He came back soon with a towel in his hand and offered it to me to dry off a bit from where the umbrella didn't shield me from the onslaught of rainwater or the splash marks on my pants from jumping into puddles like a three-year-old. I took it gratefully and wiped my arms off and dried my calves as much as I could. He gave me that odd smile of his and led me to his living room. I noticed that by the window was an easel with a partially sketched landscape. I guess I sort of interrupted him when I knocked; maybe that's why he took so long answering the door.

"So what was the question you wanted to ask me, Naruto?"

"Well you see, I've been thinking all day now about this and I just can't find the right word to describe a thunderstorm. Do you think you could help me here?"

"That's sort of a tricky one. I guess it would all depend on your perspective on the subject."

"Perspective? I'm going to need an explanation here."

"What I mean is the way you view the storm. For instance, if somebody were afraid of storms they would say they were scary or ominous. On the other hand, if someone loved storms they would describe it as beautiful or captivating."

"You're right about that, but why do you choose those words?"

"From the negative point of view, I would have to choose to describe ominous. When people seem to think about storms, especially the loud and dark kind, they tend to try to hide from it as though it was going to physically harm them. The first instinct is to find shelter and run away. A storm always has that feeling that something is coming for you, whether it be good or bad and humans tend to fear what they don't know or understand. It's the same for the animal kingdom as well."

"That makes a lot of sense. What about the other point of view?"

"Taking it from a positive perspective, wondrous is the word I would use most often when speaking about thunderstorms. Scientifically, we know why they happen and how they're made but there is still so much to learn about them. Such as, how the clouds take on their color or why lightning doesn't always have a bolt and is just a flash of white. We also don't know what the sky looks like above the clouds or what happens to change the severity of the storm. It could go on for hours at a time as a light drizzle or come and go in an instant with waterfalls of raindrops sweeping across the ground."

"That's…awesome. I never thought of it that way before."

"Did my responses ease your mind concerning your question?"

"Sort of yes and sort of no but I'm starting to get a clearer picture of the whole thing."

"Well I'm happy to have assisted you, Naruto."

"Thanks a lot, Sai. If you don't mind could I ask you something else?"

"Of course, I'd be happy to answer another question you have."

"Were you trying to paint the storm just now before I got here?"

"Oh, so you noticed my easel. Yes, I was trying to just sketch the preliminary outline for what I'm hoping the storm to become. If it doesn't happen the way I'm hoping then I'll at least be able to capture it in one way or another."

"I get it, so right now it's just the village and when the storm hits its peak you'll draw that."

"That's correct. You seem to really enjoy thunderstorms Naruto, may I ask why?"

"Sorry, Sai but I can't really give you a clear answer to that right now. It's sort of long and complicated and I don't want to fry your brain with a back story of mine. I'll take my leave so that I don't make you miss the highlight of the storm whenever it happens."

"I would like to hear the story some time, Naruto."

"Yeah, sure, no problem. One more question for you though."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Which perspective do you see them in?"

"Personally, I'm on the positive side of things. It was one of the comforts I had when I was still in the ANBU Roots. Not knowing about certain things when all my life I had to take in all the information I could as a spy. I guess it sort of made me feel like I was still innocent and naïve."

"Well, you turned out pretty okay to me. Thanks for the help Sai, see you later!"

Once again I took my leave and I couldn't help but wonder about what Sai had said before I left. The part about him being innocent and naïve I could really relate to when it came to the forces of nature. It's always the one time that I don't feel useless for having no power to control anything. It makes me feel like I'm just a tiny part of a bigger picture and puts all of my problems into perspective. Leaving his house I found myself looking up to the great big sky again and found myself thinking about something other than my perfect word. I could see dim flashes of lightning every so often and in turn different hues of gray in the clouds. Vaguely I could understand what Sai had explained to me about not knowing why things happen the way they do. As I was about to put my head back down to look in front of me, another bolt of lightning cracked open the sky and I looked back up to see the clouds moving closer to the village and grow darker. I smiled in spite of the gloomy mood the storm was slowing bringing to Konoha.

I decided to walk around the village a bit just to get a general feel for what a storm appears to mean for other people. The whole perspective thing that Sai had mentioned really seemed to hit home for me. I made my way towards the different housing districts in the village and noticed a couple of things. First off, children were either running around jumping in puddles like I had been doing not even twenty minutes ago or they were screaming whenever the thunder rolled in and crying for their mothers. Second, the adults who were outside were hurrying towards their homes in hope of what I assumed to be a dry change of clothes or a warm bath to prevent sickness. Lastly, there were elderly folks sitting on park benches with their umbrellas and raincoats just smiling at the entire situation and seemed to reminisce about just about anything they pleased. The whole picture gave me a little sense of comfort and at the same time uncertainty. Why did people seem to think that storms were bad things? Why did they have something to fear about what naturally occurs in the world? And why did some people, like the children and elders, seem too blatantly oblivious or carefree of it all? None of these questions needed answering, but I still needed my word.

**And there you have it, chapter three over and done. Reviews and comments are appreciated and flames will be used to heat my apartment...it's snowing here and I'm cold (but that doesn't mean I want you people to flame me)**


	4. Cleansing

**Finally, chapter 4! I'm pretty fond of this story so far and if you couldn't tell, I'm also a fan of thunderstorms. This chapter will actually have Sasuke in it! But sadly, it's not for very long and the yaoi doesn't develop just yet. Not too many more chapters to go sadly but I hope that you'll all stick around!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any rights of the Naruto franchise, characters or other affiliations. I am not making a profit off of this story and the only thing I own is the plot. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto (although I still hate what he did to end the series...seriously I would have been fine with it ending at 698)**

As I was wandering around thinking about the words I had been given thus far, I heard my name being called. I turned around to look for the source of the voice only to be met by my favorite sensei of all time. Iruka-sensei caught up with me and panted a little as he put one of his hands on his knees as the other supported his umbrella. I smiled at him gently and lifted my own over him a little as well, bending a little to do so. He soon caught his breath and stood up straight, causing me to straighten as well and pull my umbrella back over my own head.

"What are you doing out here in this weather? You're going to get sick for goodness sake! I'm thankful you remembered your umbrella at least, but you have no raincoat or jacket or even boots! Come on, we'll head to my house so that you can get warmed up – it's starting to chill off and I don't want to hear about you catching pneumonia."

"Iruka-sensei, I'm fine, relax a bit. I just came from Sai's house and he already dried me off a little, I just decided to walk around a while before I headed back to my place."

"That doesn't matter Naruto, you're wet now and my house is closer. Now come on, hurry!"

It made me happy that he worried about me so much although sometimes it was a little over-the-top. He knew that Kurama wouldn't let me get sick even if I stayed out in the rain all week if it would last that long. Still, it made me feel loved and for that reason I tolerated Iruka-sensei's overbearing parenting tendencies. After a little walk and listening to a few of Iruka-sensei's mumbling about careless teenagers and future visits to my house to make me some chicken noodle soup, were arrived at his house and he graciously shoved me inside. He instructed me to take my shoes, shirt and pants off and to wait in the front room. I looked at him like he was insane and he sent another look right back at me that just screamed 'pain-upon-failure-to-comply', so I did what he had…requested.

As I was bending over to take off my shoes after my shirt had been removed I had noticed something a little strange about the front room. I looked down to count the shoes that were placed in a neat row and, not counting mine, noticed three pairs. Now two pairs of shoes were always a given at Iruka-sensei's house because ever since he and Kakashi-sensei got together, Kakashi-sensei moved in. The third pair sort of puzzled me because it's not common for either of them to have guests unless it's me, Sakura, Sasuke or Sai. Seeing as Sakura's shoes were all boots now and I had just come from Sai's place, I could only assume them to be Sasuke's. But Sasuke only ever visited Iruka-sensei or Kakashi-sensei if Sakura or I was with him. The later of the two options was an extreme rarity these days and the former of the two wasn't a far-fetched possibility. Iruka-sensei came back and offered me a dry T-shirt and a pair of loose sweatpants.

"Hey Iruka-sensei?"

"Yes?"

"Who else is here right now?"

"Kakashi and Sasuke are here. Sasuke needed some advice on a certain matter and he asked Kakashi for some help. They're both in the living room, so hurry to get dressed and we'll join them."

"Um…I don't think that's such a good idea, Iruka-sensei."

"What? Why not, Naruto?"

"You know that Sasuke and I haven't really been on the best of terms these past few months. I try to be friendly like I always have towards him but he just shrugs me off and walks away without saying anything."

"Come on Naruto, just talk to him. It can't go that badly, can it? Just give it a try and see how it goes, you've been moping a lot lately and it might do the two of you some good."

"Can just you and I talk for a little while? Please?" I gave him the puppy eyes that no one seemed to be able to resist and almost instantly he caved in.

"Alright, we can talk in the kitchen. But you know the layout of my house and that means we'll have to pass them in the living room."

"I know that. Thank you."

I got out of my semi-wet clothes and into the dry ones before following Iruka-sensei into the hallway. He dropped off my wet clothes into the laundry room and put them in the dryer for me to change back into whenever I wanted to go home. As we walked through the doorway into the living room, Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke looked up from their conversation to Iruka-sensei and I. Sasuke and I made eye-contact and before I could even try to smile at him or even say 'hello' he immediately looked down into his lap and turned his head away from me and towards the wall. I would be lying if I said that it didn't break my heart a little because I knew that he was secretly glowering at me. I didn't want the two of us to be like this, I wanted us to be close again. But I knew that he wouldn't forgive me for whatever it is that I had done to him. He came back of his own free will, I had very little to do with it…just the dragging him to the Hokage tower by the ear but he was walking on his own!

"Well hello Naruto, didn't expect you _and_ Sasuke in the same day."

"Hi Kakashi-sensei. Iruka-sensei dragged me in out of the rain because I didn't have boots or a coat on."

"Did you have an umbrella?"

"Yes I did actually."

"Then I don't see a problem in this. As far as I can see, Iruka didn't have a coat or boots on either."

"Kakashi, be quiet, he looked like he'd been out there for hours. Naruto and I are going to talk in the kitchen, you and Sasuke can continue whatever it was you were discussing. If you need anything you know where to find me."

"Alright Iruka, Naruto. Have fun and no eating all of my snacks."

"Kakashi, I'm pretty sure that your snacks are safe from Naruto."

I took one more look at Sasuke before I turned to Kakashi-sensei and smiled, strained as it was. I followed Iruka-sensei into the kitchen but before I sat down at the island table I could hear Sasuke say a faint 'can't talk to him' from the entrance. It hurt, it really did. Iruka made himself busy making tea and gathering rice cakes and such for us to munch on as we talked. Then I got to thinking about my word again as I heard the thunder boom again and rain come down a little harder than what it had been. I began to wonder what Iruka-sensei thought about the storm and decided to ask him about it once he was seated.

"This storm seems like it's going to get worse and worse. The weatherman said that it may last the whole night."

"Iruka-sensei…let me ask you something."

"Sure kiddo, what is it?"

"If you could describe a thunderstorm in one word and only one…what would it be and why?"

"Cleansing." Iruka-sensei looked to be at ease as he took a sip from his tea and his eyes glazed over with a sense of calmness and knowingness. He smiled gently at me before he continued to speak.

"I would say that storms are cleansing because after they break and die down, everything feels new. It just seems to be like a perfect chance to start something over or begin something anew. I feel as though the rain can just wash away anything that has troubled me and give me a fresh start to a new day. No matter how much or how little it comes down it always has that clean smell to it and the thunder resounds loud enough to clear your head and make you feel both hollow and filled at the same time. Lightning illuminates the sky as though highlighting that yes, indeed, another chance will come to do whatever it is that you wish to do over."

What he said was true. I had always felt my best and most confident after a rainy day or a thunderstorm had passed and I've experienced what the thunder does to people. The feeling of being hollow is a double-edged sword - one side being the feeling of having nothing there or no one around to protect you from the monsters under your bed or the skulls in your closet, and it's truly terrifying. The other side, however, is at the opposite end of the spectrum entirely. When the thunder echoes through your body and sends shivers down your spine, it feels as though you're filled with an anxiety and a sense of alertness that drives away the cold and the emptiness. It's hard to explain to someone who's never experienced the feeling, but it's both terrifying and amazing.

"I feel the same way Iruka-sensei…I can't tell you how many times I've felt that way after a rain."

"Does it help?"

"Yeah…it does but I'm sorry I don't think that's the _perfect_ word I'm looking for."

"Maybe Kakashi can help you more then. He's pretty wise and philosophical, I'm sure he would be willing to help you in any way he can. You know he sees both you and Sasuke like his own children don't you?"

"Would that make Sakura his daughter?"

"Actually as bad as it sounds, we rarely ever talk about her or Sai, for that matter. When we get on the topic you and Sasuke are usually the focus. So what exactly is going on between you two?"

"To be completely honest, I have absolutely no idea anymore. I try to act the same as I always have around him but like I said he just brushes me off. When I tried to be serious and talk to him one time, he tried to punch me in the face. When I hit back, thinking we were going to spar, he just disappeared on me and the damn log was in his place. Ever since then, it's been difficult to be even close to him. When he sees me in the mission assignments room, he goes out of his way to avoid me. You know how I feel about him, and I pray you didn't tell Kakashi-sensei, and all of it just makes me want to cry and puke at the same time."

"I haven't told Kakashi, but as I said before he thinks like the two of you are his own. He can pick up on things rather quickly. He already knows about how you feel about Sasuke and he understands."

"It's Sasuke-teme I don't get. I don't know what I did to him but clearly he doesn't want to forgive me for it."

"Maybe he just doesn't know how to talk to you now."

"He had no problem fighting beside me during the war; things were just like they'd always been. If that's the case why is he having trouble now? It's not like I'm not approachable! Hell I get people off the streets asking me for advice and crap left and right! Why can't my best friend do it when he's the one I want to talk to?!"

"Not so loud, Naruto, unless you want the two in the living room to hear you."

I quickly put my hand over my mouth and took a quick peek into the living room from the doorway. Sasuke looked as though he was desperately confused about something but at the same time curious about it. It was a look that only he could really pull off. Not to mention look good doing it. Kakashi-sensei had his eyes closed as he was talking, but because of the mask I couldn't read his lips. For all I knew, and could only assume, they didn't hear my little outburst. Suddenly Sasuke looked shocked about something and turned his head towards my direction. I quickly turned away and jumped back in my seat across from Iruka-sensei. He laughed a bit and got up himself, walking towards the doorway.

"I'm going to get Kakashi so that you can ask him what you asked me. I'll stay with Sasuke, so you don't have to worry about it. Just stay here and calm down."


	5. Nostalgic

**Well, two chapters in one day, I must say I'm happy. This chapter focuses on Kakashi's wisdom and guidance as Naruto asks for his word once again. Read the last couple of chapters for the disclaimers because if I had owned any rights to Naruto, Sakura would be burned alive by Itachi's amaterasu, Naruto and Sasuke would have adorable babies and Naruto would actually be happy being Hokage.**

I did as he said and stayed where I was. He walked out the door and I could hear him speaking with Kakashi-sensei, thanks to my acute hearing courtesy of Kurama. I heard Kakashi-sensei ask what I wanted to know and could hear footsteps coming towards the kitchen along with the rain and thunder from outside on the window pane. Because of the thunder, I didn't hear Iruka-sensei's response but as the thunder died down I heard Sasuke ask if he should leave. Iruka-sensei said that he would like to talk to Sasuke for a bit and then he shooed Kakashi-sensei off to me.

"So kiddo, I hear you want to ask me a question. Finally come to ask how to get into Sasuke's bed?"

"W-w-w-what?!"

"Oh come on, anyone can see that you've got the hots for the kid. I mean look at the two of you! You've been running around avoiding the sexual tension for months, and it's not doing either of you any good."

"Kakashi-sensei, I didn't want to ask you anything concerning the teme!"

"Is that so? Well then forget everything I said. What's up?"

"I wanted to know what kind of a word you would use to describe a thunderstorm."

"That's…sort of deep for you Naruto. I'm impressed you've thought of something other than ramen, becoming Hokage, or Sasuke."

"I'm being serious here, sensei. I've been thinking about this all day and I can't get it out of my head. Sakura says it's mystifying, Sai says it's ominous and wondrous depending on how you view it, and Iruka-sensei said it's cleansing! They're all right but none of those is the word I'm looking for! I'm nearly going out of my mind because of this!"

"If you want my honest answer, I first have to tell you that I'm not a particularly big fan of thunderstorms. I can however give you a word. It's what I feel every single time it rains like this."

"And that word would be?"

"Nostalgic. The rain takes my mind to places that I really wouldn't want to see again. For me, storms like this are always associated with tragedies and pain. But you can't help but remember the times you've had during such occasions. When your mother and father died, it rained during their funeral. When Rin was buried there was thunder like you wouldn't believe. I guess with my Lightning Blade, lightning doesn't bother me as much but since it just comes with the storm, I don't have to love it. The only real upside I can give to rain or thunderstorms would be that no one can tell if you're crying or not. The rain water will do that for you. Don't get me wrong, storms like these have their good moments too, like wrapping yourself up in a blanket and reading a good book. Then there's sitting inside the coffee shop with Iruka and watching the kids play in the mud hearing their mothers yell for them to get inside. Overall I would say rain just makes me…nostalgic. That's all I can really say about this."

"I understand all of that, and sometimes I feel the same way but I really don't believe that I, personally, can use that word to describe them. I can't really remember all that well what happened when I was alone a lot. A good chunk of my childhood is just a blur. The one thing I always remembered though was the storms."

"Well then, do you remember what you were doing while they happened?"

"Most of the time I would just sit by the window and stare at them. Since I can't remember most of what I did as a kid, I guess and I can't really be sure of what I did. All I can say was that I couldn't look away."

"Who have you asked so far again?"

"Sakura, Sai, Iruka-sensei and you."

"Why not ask Sasuke?"

"Why won't Sasuke talk to me? No wait, why can't Sasuke look at me without anger in his eyes?"

"What? What on Earth are you talking about?"

"You just talked to him for God knows how long, you tell me."

"Naruto…I think you've got it all wrong."

"What do I have wrong? That I've all but lost my best friend because of something I may or may not have done? That Sasuke hasn't been avoiding me as though I would infect him with something?"

"He's been avoiding you?"

"Avoiding, dodging, running, disappearing; call it what you want, it's all the same."

"How long…exactly, has this been happening?"

"Almost three months after the war ended and he came back to the village. So that would make it about six months now that this has been going on."

Kakashi-sensei glanced towards the other room where Sasuke and Iruka-sensei were now talking. The look in his eyes seemed like a feeling of understanding or realization had come upon them. Whether I should take that as a comfort was yet to be revealed. Kakashi-sensei put his hand on my shoulder as he leaned across the island as a gesture of comfort and for some reason, reassurance.

"You two just need to talk things out."

"I'd love to talk things out, sensei, but Sasuke won't give me the time of day!"

"All the two of you need is some alone time."

"Don't make this perverted Kakashi-sensei. I hate to admit it, but Sasuke doesn't want me in his life anymore, plain and simple."

"Naruto…."

"It doesn't matter anymore. He probably doesn't care."

"Naruto, stay here for a few minutes. I'll be right back."

I knew where he was going, that much was obvious. I don't really think that he can do anything to fix what Sasuke-teme and I have going on right now though. And to think, all of this started because I wanted a word. Kakashi-sensei tried to give me the best smile he could through his mask and for that I was grateful but it's not like it will do much good. He pulled his hand away from my shoulder and stood up to leave. Compared to how he usually walks, which is light and graceful like a cat, his footsteps were heavy and a couple of the floorboards creaked when he walked over them with a particularly heavy stomp of heel meeting carpet. I stood up as well and walked over to close the curtain that separated the kitchen from the living room. It didn't do anything for sound but at least I wouldn't have to deal with having three sets of eyes on me once they were done talking. I walked over to the stove to put more water on for tea when, finally, the lightning and the thunder both came at once.


	6. Now? Answers?

**Chapter six and again, sadly, I own nothing but the plot. I'll let the chapter speak for itself here. If you're coming from my Deviantart, this is chapter 6 and 7 combined, hence the title of the chapter**

I don't know how long I had been waiting to hear that noise today, but it was already past three in the afternoon and it was about time this storm broke open the sky. However, much to my disappointment, it didn't happen just yet. So instead, I focused on making the tea for everybody once they were done in the living room. Kurama must not have wanted me to listen to their conversation because for some reason, my acute hearing was gone and all I had to go on was the occasional grunt from Kakashi-sensei or the huff from Iruka-sensei. I heard nothing from Sasuke's part but that's just to be expected. He never really was one for words if he could help it and that's what made me hate and love him at the same time. He was short, sweet and to the point with everything he did. That may also have been a reason this avoidance has me so bothered. If he was angry with me or if I had done something wrong, he normally would have at least told me. We both just have our ways of letting each other know we were pissed at each other. Mine was through brash, crude means of sparring – his was a mixture of glares and the silent treatment (when I was around him it was bearable) or a merciless training session. I would have taken either of those options right now over what he's been doing lately. I would even stand the two or three days in the hospital if it meant that I could talk to him again after we had sorted it out.

When I looked up from the now finished tea, only Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei had come back into the kitchen. I wanted to ask about Sasuke, but Iruka-sensei beat me to it.

"Sasuke has gone home. However, he does want to talk to you."

"Why couldn't he do it here then?"

"Sasuke wanted the two of you to have some privacy for the long talk you two are sure to have. When he asked me for advice earlier, I was just as shocked as anyone would have been given the situation. But Sasuke wants you to go to his mansion. He said hopefully within the next couple of hours."

"Kakashi-sensei…I don't get it. Why does he want to talk now?! I don't even know what I've done to make him angry!"

"Naruto…he's not mad at you. He's just…you know what? You have to talk to him. He wants you to be at his house soon, so that's where you're going."

I almost couldn't believe that Iruka-sensei was kicking me out of his house. The only time he had ever done that was when I nearly walked in on him and Kakashi-sensei doing the horizontal tango in the living room. He pushed me out of the kitchen, through the living room, and into the front entryway. He quickly went to retrieve my clothes that were now long dry and Kakashi-sensei got me a long raincoat out of the closet that looked like it was supposed to match my umbrella.

"Now Naruto, make sure the two of you sort out all of your problems and make up okay? Be sure not to strain yourself and for God sakes use condoms."

"You PERVERT!"

"Seriously, Naruto, please give Sasuke a chance. It really isn't what you think. Everything will be fine, we promise."

"Okay, okay, I get it Iruka-sensei; look, I'm going now."

After giving the two of them brief hugs (very brief on Kakashi-sensei's part) I was out the door once again and on the rain-soaked streets. More thunder and lightning were coming more frequently than earlier and I got a strange feeling deep in my gut telling me that nothing was going to be the same after I had seen Sasuke. His mansion was a little ways away so I don't think taking a detour was going to do any harm. Just in case Iruka-sensei was watching through the window, I walked like I was going straight to Sasuke's but once I knew he couldn't see me anymore I took the first left into the park that I could. There was a, now voided due to the weather, playground with a jungle gym, swings, slides, tunnels, rope bridges, and climbing posts all around. Heading towards one of the tunnels, I chose the blue one and huddled inside of it with my knees to my chest. I normally don't get this way during thunderstorms so I'm assuming that this is the rare bought of depression I used to get whenever I thought about Sasuke while he was away. The way things are right now…it may as well have been that he never came back at all. If he had never come back, I would have just been down grandma Tsunade's throat about sending me out to find him. I know that this time though I can't treat it like that. This time he was home…here in the village that birthed him with people who care about him genuinely. Sure he has his fair share of haters since he defected but even that already small group is dying. Sadly, I don't know if after everything we've been through together I could ever say I've hated him. Some people hear that and think strange things like Sasuke and I had planned his defection or that everything was a set-up, like an S-rank mission. We both knew better…and that hurt more.

More rain had come into the tunnel I was in and I was beginning to feel the slight chill because of it. Not only that, but the wind had picked up and debris from older trees and houses were flying through the air now. Clean-up was going to suck and I almost pitied the genin for their future missions of having to do all of this alone. Grandma Tsunade could be a real hard-ass when it comes to that sort of thing. I decided it was time to get off my ass and get this thing with Sasuke-teme over and done with. I crawled out of the tunnel and saw that the clouds were even darker than they had been; which is really freaking dark. If I thought they were black before, then this had taken on a whole new shade of the color! I briefly thought about the painting that Sai was probably in the middle of and what it was going to look like when it was finally done. Opening my umbrella back up, I started to make a light run towards Sasuke's house.

About half an hour later, I was at his door. I looked like a drowned kitten that much I was sure of because my umbrella and raincoat could only shield me from so much water when winds were this strong. I knocked twice and waited the painful two minutes it took him to open the door. His eyes widened a bit and it gave me a chance to finally take a good long look at him.

He was dressed in a dark kimono top with a silver border of silk fabric along the edges of the elbow length sleeves, bottom, and chest folds and underneath it were long black fishnet sleeves that wrapped around his wrists and converged on the ring around his middle finger over the back of his hands. Also he was wearing three-quarter length black jeans with many pouches and straps. His feet were bare, save for the shoes he wore to walk around his house in. Looking at his face, his eyes were a little brighter than what I remembered from when we were kids, but that could just be due to the fact that he and Itachi-san had exchanged a few meaningful words. His skin was still the same alabaster tone it was when we fought together but it seemed to glow a bit, even when it was so dark outside. His hair was longer in the back, causing the spikes to be a little thicker and lower on his head but it seemed to suit him well. His bangs were still passed his strong, shapely chin and almost touched his collar bones but they were cut at an angle that wouldn't let them touch his flesh without him bending his head forward. All-in-all…he was the same gorgeous boy I had fallen for when we were children.

"Are you going to stand there getting drenched even more, or are you going to come inside dobe?"

"Ah…yeah, right."

That single sentence was the most he had spoken to me since he came back to the village. It felt…good in a way but also strangely empty. I walked passed him slightly to enter the house and he shut the door behind me and handed me a towel from the coat closet to dry myself off. A sense of déjà vu crept upon me and I was hoping he wasn't going to ask for me to take my clothes off.

"You were supposed to be here a while ago. It's nearly seven."

"I lost track of time, I guess."

"Iruka called me earlier."

"Really? What did he want?"

"He wanted to know if you were here yet. I'm sure that he and the pervert told you I wanted to talk to you…alone."

"Yeah…they told me."

"You didn't come straight here then I take it."

"No…I sat in the park for a while. Not sure how long I was there though."

"It doesn't matter now. You're here – safe and sound."

"Sasuke…."

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Why…?"

He let out a sigh and led the both of us to his living room. He pointed at the chaise lounge end of the sectional he had bought and told me to sit there. Sasuke, in turn, took the seat next to the coffee table; which was on the opposite side where the chaise was. I noticed that there were three cups on the table in front of me. One was coffee, the next tea and the last hot chocolate. All of them, though, were cold and it immediately made me feel bad. He had set out drinks for me not knowing what I wanted and I had made him wait. Sasuke must have been nervous about this talk as well. I haven't exactly approached him in order to talk this problem out either, but to my credit I thought he was the one avoiding me. Plus he was the one that went **out of his way** to avoid me.

"You're wondering why I wanted to talk to you now, am I correct?"

"It's been on my mind, yes."

"Kakashi and Iruka both said you told them you thought I was avoiding you."

"So? You have been, haven't you?"

"I…I won't say no. But I do have a reason for it."


	7. Truth Comes Out

**Finally, the SasuNaru goodness starts to arrive! What is Sasuke's reason for avoiding Naruto so much? Well read and find out! That's why this chapter is here! I own nothing but the plot because if I owned more we would have had SasuNaru babies at the end of the series. Sadly, life is unfair...so this is my release from reality. ONWARD MY READERS!**

"It's because you're mad at me for something right?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"The looks…the looks you give me from far away."

"What looks are you talking about?"

"The glare that looks like you're trying to melt the back of my head for giving you the plague, the one that looks like you want me to burst into flames if I go near your personal space, or just the look that you couldn't care less if I was buried twelve feet under."

"I…I've never…given YOU those looks. I don't know what you're talking about."

"You may call me 'dobe' but I'm not as stupid as you think I am. You can't tell me that you haven't glared at me strange for the past SIX MONTHS or that you haven't gone OUT OF YOUR WAY to make sure we don't meet on the street or in the missions room."

"Like I said, I have a reason."

"What makes you think I'll just accept that reason?! It hurts, Sasuke! You're my best friend – even after all the shit went down after you left and during the war! You didn't acknowledge the fact that I existed anymore and it hurt even more than when the people of the village hated me!"

Sasuke at least had the decency to look guilty but at the same time he looked like he really needed to say something back. I knew he was letting me have my rant and he was taking it like the man he was. He was being patient and courteous of my feelings when I didn't even know what I was saying anymore. Before I knew it I was crying and pacing around the coffee table.

"Not only did you make me feel like I was worth less than your fangirls to you, but you turn around and make me feel bad for making you upset! Iruka-sensei said you wanted to talk to me and I didn't want to believe him because of the way you acted for the last few months; but then he shoved me out the door! And he knew how I felt about the whole situation! He told me that it's not what I thought it was and Kakashi-sensei said to use condoms and…and…and I'm so confused!"

After that, all I knew was that I was bawling like a newborn baby while I was sitting on my knees on the floor. My hands flew to my eyes and tried to wipe away the tears as fast as they could, but I was failing so miserably. As fast as it all happened, I soon felt Sasuke wrap his strong arms around me and pet my hair in a soothing manner. He pressed my face into his chest and shushed me like a mother would. The hand that wasn't in my hair was rubbing circles on my back and I felt so safe and warm with him. He let me cry freely into his chest and he just continued to hold me. Every now and then, I could feel him press his lips against my crown and say that he was sorry and that everything would be okay from now on.

"I'm so sorry…I never meant for you to feel that way. I'm sorry Naruto; it wasn't supposed to be like this. I wasn't brave enough to tell you outright so I took the cowards' way out for once in my life. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry."

I calmed down after a bit and he just held onto me tighter than before. It was like he was my lifeline and if he let go I would have another breakdown. Hearing Sasuke tell me he was sorry was a miracle in and of itself but having him say it so much was unheard of. Probably even for his family. But here he was, holding me in his arms with his head on top of mine, whispering to me that it would be okay, that he was sorry, that if he could do it over it would be different. I pushed him away after a while and just looked at him. This time, everything felt right. There was nothing awkward about his stare or the way we were sitting; it was just so comforting and reassuring. Sasuke seemed to read my mind and he answered my earlier question.

"Like I told you before, I had a reason for avoiding you. You may not believe me, but I had come to have…feelings…for you. They were different from what I felt with Itachi or from when we were still kids but I knew they were there. As time went on, they got stronger and stronger. I thought that if I avoided you, they would go away but I was wrong. Every time I saw you I wanted to keep you to myself and steal you away from everyone. I wasn't looking at you in hate or anger…I can't really tell you how I was looking at you EVERY time I saw you. That's when I had to go to Kakashi. He may be perverted but he listened to me. When you came in, we were just getting to the main subject. I needed to know what this feeling was. He sounded surprised but he laughed at me for a few minutes while you and Iruka were in the kitchen. He said…that I was in love with you. At first I didn't really think that was the case but as I thought about it more and more I knew that had to be it. Iruka came out a little later and he asked me why I was avoiding you. I explained everything to him as well and he told me that you thought I hated you. Naruto, you don't know how bad I felt about everything then. Kakashi came back out and he called me an idiot, saying that I didn't know what my actions had done to you and that I made you feel like I didn't want you in my life anymore. That's when I told them I wanted to talk to you alone. I came back here and waited for you, hoping that you still wanted to talk to me. I love you Naruto, and I DO want you in my life; forever if I can help it. I just had to have someone tell me what it was. When I looked at you it was with longing and…I won't deny it…jealousy."

"So, all this time…we could have been together and happy but instead you had to be a coward and run away from it all?!"

"I'm not going to lie Naruto, that's exactly what I…wait…what did you say?"

"You had to run away from it all!"

"No…before that…what did you say?"

"You had to be a coward?"

"Before that!"

"We could have been…."

What I had said before had only just now registered in my brain. I had basically just admitted to him that I felt the same way he did and that I wanted to be with him. Now, don't get me wrong, it is what I want but I've had much longer than he has to come to terms that I want him forever. As girly as it sounds to say that I want him forever, it truly is how I feel. I understood how hard it must have been for Sasuke to accept these feelings, and I was thrilled inside to know he had them for me. But I was terrified at the same time…terrified that if we did become a couple, he would realize that he didn't want to be with me and leave me.

"How long…have you felt this way?"

"To tell the truth…ever since we were put on a team."

"…I must have been so…."

"You were…but I still felt the same."

"So all the time you were chasing me…it wasn't for Sakura or because you were my friend was it?"

"Well I couldn't really confess to you when we were enemies, now could I?"

"And all that time during the war…when we had 'died' or during the fight with Kaguya, it was all for love as well?"

"When you put it that way it makes me sound like a teenage girl!"

"If it's any consolation…I started to notice I felt this way when I first joined you on the battlefield."

I smiled at him, and he smirked back at me. I leaned back into his chest, closing my eyes and listening to his steady heartbeat. The consistent thump-thump-thump was so nice and his hand had resumed its motion of threading through my hair. His actions, combined with the sounds of the temporarily forgotten rain and thunder outside, made a familiar feeling wash over me. I suddenly bolted out of his arms and I could feel my eyes widen. Sasuke looked panicked for a few moments but just grabbed me again and shushed me.

"Sasuke…."

"What is it, Naruto?"

"What word would you use to describe a thunderstorm? One word to summarize the entire experience of it all, what would it be?"

"Kakashi told me you would ask. First, I have a question for you."

"Okay…what is it?"

"What does a thunderstorm mean to you?"

"What?"

"You heard me; what does a thunderstorm mean to you? Why do they mean so much to you and why don't you remember why they're so important?"

"From what I know, it's a long story."


	8. Naruto's Reason

**It breaks my heart to be so mean to Naruto! But don't worry my beautiful boy, Sasuke loves you! Another thing, I ask that you all forgive how OOC Sasuke is, but like I said before, it's just too damn easy. I really did try to give him some of his original personality and I tried not to go too overboard with the changes. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!**

At that moment, the power lines that supplied electricity to Sasuke's mansion had been taken down by a tree. It seems that this isn't a usual thunderstorm anymore, but more like a hurricane without the giant flood and the houses coming down with the wind.

"It doesn't look like we'll be going anywhere any time soon. We have nothing but time now, so I'm ready for a long story."

"Okay then…don't blame me if you can't really understand it. As you know, being a jinchuriki is hard on a kid. You're out-casted, hated, beaten occasionally, and just plain unwanted. When I was little, I still hadn't known about Kurama, so I had no clue why the whole village hated me. During a break one day at the academy when I was six, some of the older boys were telling the younger kids stories about monsters in their closets or under their beds. They said if they didn't listen to their parents or do well in training, these monsters would come to snatch them away and they would never be seen or heard from again. At first I didn't believe them because I knew that monsters didn't exist. Every night from when I was four I had slept with my mattress on the floor, so nothing could come from under it. The place I was staying in at the time had no closet either, so I knew that nothing could get me from their either. But when I turned seven, I got into the place I was in before now. I was always alone and there were certain times of the year that I couldn't go outside for fear of being killed. One night, some adults from the center of the village came into my room and took me away to some section of the forest I didn't remember. They beat me until dawn and told me that I deserved the beating for simply living and that I would never be a shinobi. The same people would come and get me at least once a month until the ANBU Black Ops caught them. When that finally happened, I was almost nine.

The old man Hokage put me into a secret therapy program to repress those memories and I went through more than a few of those sessions with Ino's father. The most they managed to do was to erase everyone's faces and the pain that I had come to associate them with. In that time though, whenever a thunderstorm would roll in, I was safe from the people. Instead of beating me that night, they would all stay home and mind their own families. I began to pray for thunderstorms every night; wishing that they wouldn't come after me anymore or that they would realize that I wasn't evil. The thunder made all the voices in my head quiet down so that I could focus on something other than my loneliness. Every flash of lightning would illuminate my room and I could see that no one was trying to steal me away in the night so that I would bleed and cry. The sound of the rain hitting against the windows made a perfect lullaby so that I could fall asleep and finally dream something pleasant for a change. There was one time that a storm hit during one of the therapy sessions and the Hokage noticed that I was calmer than any of my previous sessions. He took me back to his office that day and let me sleep in his chair while wearing his ceremonial hat and covered me with his robes. Ever since then, I've associated the storms with a sense of security and assurance that I would be okay; because everyone else was troubled by them or just too afraid of them to come after me. Even if they lasted only a few minutes at a time; it was always enough to make me fall asleep and dream for hours on end without fear. When I told the Hokage about it, that's when he set the order for my protection until I was a shinobi. The person assigned to that task was Iruka-sensei, but I never told him about my connection with thunderstorms. That's why I wanted to graduate so badly and took the test so many times; even when I knew that I couldn't pass it. I just wanted him to move on with his life past my 'protection detail.' So from what I can remember, I can't really describe what they mean to me. As for why I didn't remember, it's probably because of the erased memories. Eventually, I got over the general fear of the people coming to get me and whenever a storm hit, I would play in it. The Pervy-Sage noticed that, even though I couldn't focus for shit, I was more at peace and happier with life when it rained. Sometimes, he would even make the toads imitate rainfall to make me happy."

"Why didn't you tell anyone about any of this?"

"Would they have listened?"

"You know I would have…at least when we were still on the same team."

"Can you honestly say that you wouldn't have made fun of me or looked at me with pity?"

Sasuke looked away from me and tilted his head down, and I had my answer. Back when we were still on team seven, he knew he was a royal bastard and that anything I did annoyed him to no end. I'm pretty sure that he knows that yes, he would have made fun of me or used the information as blackmail.

"I was with you on missions were it rained all the time and I never saw you act any differently though."

"I'm pretty good at not letting anyone notice when something affects me so strongly unless I really want to enjoy something. Plus, it never really thundered or stormed heavily when we were out on missions. You wouldn't have seen it because it probably didn't happen often."

"So…no one was ever really there for you…."

"I was okay…albeit a little lonely, but I was fine."

"What happened to the villagers who beat you?"

"My memory was suppressed Sasuke, they were never caught."

"WHAT?! That's outrageous! They should have to pay for what they did to you – for God's sake you were only seven!"

"Even if I would remember them and they were caught, it wouldn't make a difference. The statute of limitations is up – they can't be charged with anything."

"It's not fair…you get no justice. No matter what you do…what you say or what you accomplish…nobody ever realizes that they may have permanently traumatized you."

"…You did."

"But, Naruto, look how long it took me! And I had never abused you when we were kids; I never abducted you from your home to steal you into the forest and beat you until you couldn't bleed anymore! What they did is unforgivable!"

"What they did doesn't matter anymore to me. I found people…I found friends that would stick by my side until the end. Whether I told them about my past or not, I know they would still be there. And I was hoping…that you would too."

Sasuke's eyes glazed over with a look of guilt and regret. However, I could see that behind that look was adoration and respect. He hugged me as tight as he could without hurting me and buried his face in the crook of my neck and I could feel his tears drip onto my skin. I held him back and moved so that we were more comfortable.

"I wish I had known you before my clan was killed…I wish that I hadn't been such a bastard to you, but I can't help but thank you. I don't deserve to have you in my life after everything that's happened – I don't see how you could ever forgive me. But you have to know that I'm proud to call you my friend…and that I'm so honored you call me one too. You're so much stronger than I ever could be, Naruto. If I had known you back then, maybe I could have borrowed some of your strength to overcome the deaths of my parents and moved on with my life instead of focusing on revenge. I could have learned how to smile and laugh again and open up to the people around me. You could have taught me how to be human again."

"I can still do all of that, Sasuke-teme. I _want_ to do all of that for you. But I don't want to help you like a friend would. I want to help you like…like a…lover…would do."


	9. Pure

**It's kinda short, but in order for me to get the full effect of the ending I needed it to be this way. The next chapter is the last chapter, but no one needs to worry - there is a sequel in the making! I don't know when I'll be able to post it however. Read the former chapters for the disclaimer, it depresses me to say I own nothing. Not really but hey, the plot it mine!**

I could feel Sasuke gasp as the shock of what I had said washed over him. I felt him shake and more tears fell on my neck. He pulled back and placed his right hand on my cheek. He used his thumb to wipe my own tears that had collected on my eyelids and smiled at me. Sasuke leaned forward, touched his forehead to mine, and sighed. His eyes were almost glowing, even though it was dark inside of the mansion due to the power-out and the black clouds in the sky. Two sparkling black diamonds shined back at me and I smiled at him so tenderly that I'm sure he could almost see the happy aura surrounding the two of us.

"I would like that."

After what seemed like a lifetime, he pushed his lips towards mine and our eyes drifted shut simultaneously. For the first time I could say that I've been kissed. The previous times I had, what I call 'facial encounters' with Sasuke, it was more of a mashing of mouths than actual kissing. This…this was so much different and oh so much better. I understand now what Sakura always blabbed on about for hours on end about how a kiss was pure magic in its most raw form. Sasuke's lips were perfect against mine, so soft but at the same time so powerful. Not powerful in the way the kiss was meant to be; this was probably the gentlest kiss I will ever experience in my entire life, but powerful in the way that they demanded my full attention and response. They weren't thin, but they weren't overly plumped like a hooker that got plastic surgery. His lips were full and the way they moved was so meaningful that I could almost cry. The kiss was innocent but we both poured our hearts into it, as cheesy as that sounds. We both pulled away reluctantly after only a few seconds, but those few moments had changed our lives. I smiled wide at him and a couple of happy tears spilled from my eyes as another bang of thunder clamored around us. I could see his beautiful face smiling back at me almost as wide when the lightning flashed not even a second later. A normal person would have found this terrifying but to me, it was pure perfection. For some reason that word seem familiar to me.

"I think I can give you a word for your storms."

"What is it?"

"Pure."

I think he could tell I was confused by the word. He chuckled a bit before he pulled away from me to pick me up off of the floor and put us both back on the couch. Sasuke sat with his back against the giant pillow against the back of the chaise and spread his legs apart to accommodate my body. He patted his chest for me to lay my head on and once I leaned back, he wrapped his arms around my waist and placed his chin on my crown. When he began to talk I was able to feel his chest vibrate and it was so comfortable.

"They are pure for you because they symbolize peace in your mind. The storm gives you something that, at the time, no one was willing to give you. They gave you peace of mind without demanding anything in return or manifesting a desire to harm you. Thunder cleared your head while lightning showed you there was nothing to fear. It was honest with you and made you feel safe and secure. Unlike so many other things, the rain wasn't there to cause you pain or make you feel as though you meant nothing to the world. It showed you that it was alright to sleep at night because nothing was going to hurt you while it was there. The rain gave you the chance to drop your mask and cry your heart out while hiding the tears you shed. In a strange way, I think you may have personified a storm to be something like a mother-figure in your mind. Thunder, lightning, rain and wind never judged you or discriminated against you. You didn't fear it; you respected storms as your protectors. They protected you with the pure intentions of keeping you safe. And when the task of keeping you safe was done, they took on the role of keeping you happy. In your entire life, nothing has been more pure-intentioned towards you…and that's why you love them."

The reasoning behind what Sasuke had said made so much sense to me that I was almost in tears. Thinking back to my state of mind whenever it rained when I was a child, I did see storms as my guardians. Nobody was ever there with me to tell me I was going to be alright, so the lightning did it for me. Nothing would come by my side and let me know that what I was feeling was normal or that it was okay to be scared, so the thunder took it away. I could never let myself cry in public, or even in the safety of my own home for that matter, for the sake of my pride. In turn, the rain had let me spill my tears without the fear of being caught by the people I had come to dread. Sasuke was right…a storm was like a mother to me. It was something that was there for me when no one else was, and never abandoned me when I needed it. I was right also, when I told myself that Sasuke would know exactly what word was perfect to describe my storms. Sasuke always knew everything when I needed to know something. It was just another thing about him that I was infuriatingly in love with about him.

"Naruto…are you okay? You're being really quiet."

"I'm fine, Sasuke…just soaking in what you said."

"So was that a good word to use?"

"Perfect, actually. You gave me my word."

"Kakashi said you had been thinking about it for most of the day. Iruka also said that you were waiting for the storm to climax for a while."

"I have been and I was. Now that I have both, I'm pretty tired. But I'm content as well."

"Do you want to stay?"

"Stay?"

"Here with me. The rain is still coming down pretty hard and I would hate to have you run back to your house and possibly get sick. I know that Kurama keeps you as healthy as an ox, but even he has his limits. Not to mention that your clumsy ass may get hit with some flying debris."

"Well, it's nice to know that even though we confessed to each other, things aren't awkward."

"I didn't think they would be. You're nearly asleep on my chest, don't forget."

He was right, as always, but who could blame me? There was a magnificent display of rain and lightning outside, Sasuke was warm and had one of his arms around my waist and the other petting my hair, and his heartbeat combined with the booming thunder was so soothing to me that I was pretty close to a catatonic state as it was. Now you tell me what human on this earth wouldn't sell his/her soul to the devil himself for this circumstance. Exactly…you can't.

"I'll stay then. Besides, I like where I'm at."


	10. Stay - Final

**OMG BEWARE THE FLUFF! If you're allergic to fluff, then turn back now but you won't get to see the end to the story! This is the official last chapter, and again, it's short but I nearly died writing it I was so happy! I love how it turned out and there isn't even a lemon!**

"Hmm, then it's a good thing I like my couch because it seems like you don't want to move."

"You would be correct."

"Is it really that comforting to you?"

Sasuke must have had to ask that due to the fact that I was beginning to slur my words in my comfortable state. I felt my eyes closing without my consent and my head was lolling to the side every now and then. I could feel Sasuke move his arms and bring them in front of me to form a very familiar seal. In a puff of smoke, a shadow clone appeared and Sasuke told it to go get something warm to drink and a couple of blankets for us. While the clone nodded his head, the real Sasuke maneuvered us so that we were both lying on our sides; with my head facing his chest. There was plenty of space to do this on the chaise we were on, hell it would easily hold up to four people if you squeezed, and it was long so there was a good foot and a half passed my feet. I wrapped my arm around Sasuke's middle and buried my head further into his chest and shoulder and he chuckled lightly. He brought one arm to hold me close to him and his other to cradle my head so that I was more comfortable. Sasuke himself had half of his upper body situated on the giant pillow behind him, so my other arm just slid right under him. The Sasuke clone came back after a few minutes with a nice cotton blanket and some jasmine tea. He draped the blanket over the two of us to the point where the edge came up to my nose, and handed the original Sasuke the tea. After the tasks were complete, the clone disappeared and my love and I were left to the comforts of each other and the sounds of the storm outside.

"Naruto…."

"Hmm?"

"You know you don't have to go through another lonely thunderstorm, right?"

"I know…I know now."

"I want to share them with you."

"I would like that, Sasuke…I'd love that actually."

"And not just with storms either."

"What do you mean?"

"I know how lonely you are. Even though the whole village reveres you as a savior, I can still tell that you're sad."

"I'm surprised, seeing as you haven't had any interaction with me for a few months."

"I know, and I can't apologize enough for it."

"It's okay, I would always forgive you."

"But I want you to come to me whenever you have problems. Whenever you want to cry or just talk…I'm always here. Also, I need you to know that I really do love you."

"I love you too, Sasuke. I always have and I, most likely, always will."

"I want to show the village that you're happy as well."

"You…you want to be public?"

"You don't?"

"It's not that, I want nothing more than to show everyone that we're together; but how do you think they'll react? In case you haven't noticed, we're both boys."

"Homosexual relationships are widely accepted in this village. Hell, when Kakashi came out to Iruka the whole place nearly held a party."

"Don't you think our situation is a bit different? I always knew I was gay – you just recently came out of your shell. Coming out of the shell and coming out of the closet are two different things."

"I don't care what people think of me. Most of the people here are still wary of my betrayal, so they can't really get a worse opinion of me. Not to mention that I care more about you than them."

"You mean that? You don't care?"

"Of course I don't care. I want the people who hurt you in the past to know that you're happy and damn well better off than you ever were when you were on your own."

"I never knew you had this side to you Sasuke. You can be quite the romantic when you want to be."

"You haven't seen the half of it. But be warned Naruto, Uchiha's are known to be extremely possessive. We like having what is ours stay ours."

"I knew that a long time ago."

"So you don't mind being mine? I'm warning you, I will get jealous when other men talk to you. I will get angry if someone looks at you with the wrong intentions. I may even hurt someone if they attempt to touch you. Are you willing to go through all that?"

"When I fell in love with you, I knew what I was getting into. I knew that if we ever became an item, there would be things about you I couldn't control or prevent. That possessive side of you was one of the things I knew I would either have to get used to or fight over with you. My choice was to get used to it because I didn't want to change you. I felt that if I changed you in any way, it would have affected who you are. I didn't want that – I want you for you. Plus I might like the attention that you lavish me with when Sai tries to say something about my dick."

"If he says anything about your dick in front of me there may be blood raining down instead of water."

I laughed lightly and I knew that I had made the right choice coming over to talk to him. Granted I was very hesitant to do it without Iruka-sensei pushing me out the door, but it all came around full-circle. Sasuke Uchiha and I are now a couple, I had my word for my storms, and I was overall content with the life I'm living. There were certainly many challenges ahead of me, but I knew that with Sasuke by my side everything would be fine. I soon found myself asleep in Sasuke's arms and I thought to myself that nothing in this world was more perfect than Sasuke Uchiha and a thunderstorm mixed together.


End file.
